FRAGRANCE LABEL TRENDS - PERFUME PACKING

VISUAL AUTHENTICITY TREND

The visual authenticity trend has been in the market for a while now and it will continue to shine in 2016. As this trend has evolved, it has moved beyond small artisan brands and is becoming more mainstream itself. With the rise of niche perfumery consumers are fleeting away from mainstream products looking for more emotional and personal experiences with their fragrance (check my last article about NICHE) That said, visual authenticity is one response to shifting perfume consumer values to desire more real, quality and honest products. Products with uncomplicated appearance, yet are crafted; maybe even vintage inspired. Fragrances that can create inadvertent human connection.

The digital age is fostering a decline in human connection which is most prevalent office Gen Z consumers. Because of this, these shoppers are not responding to traditional established corporate brands. They want more. They demand more. They desire a real, trusted, human connection to the products and the brands that they consume. This connection can be expressed in different ways, from a connection to nature, to the written word, to the past, or to simply to other people. This is beyond hipster. This style is a rejection of technology. A pre-
computer era style, if you will.(Andrew Gibbs).

Some perfume brands have this in mind. To reconnect with perfume consumers. They do this by showcasing the craft, quality, and skill in both the product and the packaging design. Some of this trend's characteristics are: handwritten, raw, freeform or sketchy typography/ hand rendered, simple illustrations/ may include vintage inspired references or typography/ natural color palettes.

I have selected a few examples for you:

Le Labo manifesto defines that the idea that luxury relies on craftsmanship. In their website you will find the community craft which shows all craftsmen and craftswomen involved in the creation of a Le Labo fragrance. Le Labo labeling relies on customised labels with personal messages. All fragrances of the brand come with a Lab type of label with typewriter fonts, with the list of the ingredients, and all fragrances are mixed and labeled in front of the customers, so they can have a real and handcrafted experience. They are the pioneers of this type of uncomplicated and yet luxurious fragrance production.

Fragrance brand Demeter tries to capture real experiences and bottle them for you.

Their mission is "to create environments where people can rediscover the wonderful world of scents that is too often overlooked or forgotten in our modern multi-tasked world". In terms of labeling Demeter provides a simple label with little phrases such as "pick me up" Cologne spray suggesting a "conversation" with the consumer.

Maison Margiela is bringing a different type of labeling where you will find the inspiration, a fragrance description and a suggestion of the style on the bottle itself. Like Le Labo you will see here the trend of using typewriter font and simplicity.

Leo & Harper are innovating with a simple label that talks to you. It asks you questions!

Olfactive Studio chose labels that look like a cut piece of tape with handwritten typography. Very simple; very chic.

Swedish perfume house Agonist is now offering a new bottle and label design that brings just a list of the ingredients composing the fragrance and by that they are also bringing a clearer communication with consumers.

Authenticity and human touch is trending now due to social medias because they are allowing brands to be more accessible and more approachable and this type of connection is now extended to packing.The handcrafted look is brought by unique designs and handwritten fonts. The overwhelming amount of information that social media is offering is also overloading consumers in a way that they are longing for a simpler, clearer, easier and quicker way to communicate. Simple minimalistic designs are reflecting this need to quickly understand if the product fits their needs.

Like I have been saying for years "Less is always more!"

Niche ENNICHED?

Photo credit: Wedding Inspiration website

In my last article about niche perfumery I discussed what NICHE meant. It was back in 2012 when a lot of bloggers, perfumers and perfume magazines were discussing the future of niche perfumery, its meaning and some of them were even discussing that at some point niche as it was presented could not be considered niche perfumery anymore.

Two years ago I said that opinions about the subject could be divided in 2 groups: the extremists or purists who think that niche means ONLY exclusive small perfume brands offering unique fragrances; and the generalists that find that everything you can offer to a certain niche can be nominated niche (I am in this group).

At that time I also explored the crucial elements that defined niche and from them I extracted meaning of niche perfumery:

-   Small

-       Specialized

-       Market segment

-       Specific

-       Marketing strategy

All lead to the common meanings that niche perfumery was 1) A specialized market segment in perfumery, or 2) A marketing strategy created to sell perfume (according to the needs, interests and wants of a group of people).

Three years later I feel that it is time that we talk about niche perfumery again and reevaluate it as it is today. The reason to do so is the fact that niche is no longer behaving at it was before. 

Once niche perfumery was ENNICHED by the market some brands started to behave like  mass production companies. 

From starters a question just popped out of my mind: Maybe we need to change permanently the name of this category of perfumery from NICHE to INDIE? 

Let's find out!

According to the Fragrance Foundation - the organization giving the FIFI AWARDS - the INDIE perfume award category (USA) is given to a fragrance launched by a brand not distributed or owned by a large company and sold in under 50 stores in the USA.

In this case we can exclude all the brands that were sold to equity groups or larger companies. But does that mean the ones not following in this category are still behaving like a niche brand?

The French perfume brand Annick Goutal was one of the first independent niche brands to be acquired by a group. Being previously owned by the investment group Starwood Capital was bought by giant Korean Cosmetic brand Amore Pacific in 2011. I remember the criticism years ago and the long discussions about quality of the raw materials and how AG lovers felt somehow betrayed by the brand. That was just the beginning...

Recently many other niche brands owners followed the path of Camille Goutal (the daughter of the founder of AG brand). UK private Equity Company Manzanita bought Diptyque and Byredo; Le Labo was bought by Estée Lauder Group who already owned Jo Malone, Frederic Malle and Tom Ford Beauty...etc etc...

Is there a back fire of these operations?

According to specialists in branding if the original niche brand does not retain its identity, its niche market is ruined or it is no longer enniched. If the parent brand gives credibility to the brand acquired  - great! If not, it is doomed to failure. In fact, it is the personality of the Indie and the power of the parent brand that will show a rebrand, an integration, an extension etc... A brand should encompass its niche market both functional and emotionally, and if still does after being bought, values will be maintained or even improved.

You see, brand values offer a promise. It is a set of attributes that its consumers experience by using their products. A deviation of this "promise" will eventually harm this loyalty.

But what is happening to the brands who did not have the fortune to be bought by bigger groups? Are they still behaving as they promised? Are they still using the same marketing strategies as in the beginning?

For many years niche perfumery sold the idea that it does not follow trends. Fact is that this promise is no longer there. As an example let's examine some facts of the market:

How many niche brands ran to launch its very own OUD fragrance because it was a fever - A RAW MATERIAL TREND no so long ago predicted by companies such as Seven or Mintel? A trend that is coming back by the way for my misfortune.

How many brands launched a perfume around a rose, leather or patchouli note this winter because it was predicted to be the next good selling product for 2015/2016 autumn and winter seasons? Check P&F article here.

Check the latest new launches for this winter and you will see that niche perfumery perfumer and brand owners are starting to follow trends like any other brand:

The Different Company - Kashan Rose EDP (Rose)

Parfums de Nicolai - Cuir Cuba Intense EDP (Leather)

Tauer Parfums - Un Rose de Kandahar (Rose)

Maison FK - Masculin Pluriel (Leather)

Tom Ford - Patchouli Absolu (Patchouli)

To make the story short: Luckyscent is displaying nothing more than 16 new leather niche fragrances and 17 new rose fragrances.

About packing design trends. Niche brands are beginning to follow trends of massive production. How many niche brand went back to their designers and ordered revamped fragrance bottles because it was a trend in the mass production market? Also a trend pointed out not so long ago in the media - for those how follow the market you know what I am talking about!! Remember the trend of heavy luxurious flacons? Many ran to make their very own and the ones who did not have it till then, ran to remodel their design.

The celebrities - this is the most sensitive element to point out. French niche perfumery brand Etat Libre D'Orange invited Tilda Swinton to "collaborate" with the creation of this fragrance. Boom! It got an FiFi Award in France. The brand had used the face of Rossy de Palma before. The marketing strategy is to call the celebrity a "muse". Another tactic - announce out loud "this or that celebrity wears my brand" - strategy used by French niche brand Honoré de Prés using Jessica Alba to sell Vamp a NY fragrance.

So, are niche brands really telling stories as they say they do? Are niche brands reflecting the personality of the owner as they once said they do? A reflexion to be made by all of us consumers.

Does that mean that niche fragrances once ENNICHED are no longer loyal to their consumers? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it is the other way around.

How many brands were launched from 2005 to 2015? Ten years ago you had a small number of perfumers launching their brands and selling exclusive lines. But what happens when the market offers 10 to 20 new different niche brands in a year and regular customers begin to have the urge to try the new brands? Are they still loyal to the houses that once inspired them?

Today niche perfumery takes 10% of high end perfume sales globally. The market changed. 

Cosmetic Business Magazine pointed out on today's issue that Euromonitor is predicting 3 trends for the fragrance market  "Three trends are expected to take off within the fragrance market this year: the rising popularity of niche fragrances, fragrance personalisation and novel retail experiences."

The article also brings insights of niche brand Micallef on the subject that are interesting:
“Consumers will continue to look for an effective identity and ability to relate emotionally and personally to a fragrance. In line with this, industry players are formulating fragrances with alternative ingredients to meet such demands. We have seen fragrances formulated with sea salt and saffron, for example, which are still alternative ingredients. Naturally, big players are trying to tap into this lucrative part of the business as evidenced by Estée Lauder's recent acquisition of Le Labo and Frédéric Malle.”

Regarding the fact that competition in this segment is on the rise:
“In order to meet such a challenge, fragrance players need to sustain their niche intent and avoid commoditising the scent.”

Micallef talks about formulation of the fragrance with alternative ingredients. that was one of the elements of the marketing strategy used exclusively by niche brands in the past. Niche brands always highlight the fact that they use expensive or unique raw materials in their composition. True sometimes. But is today a practice that is exclusive of niche brands? what about the exclusive collections of Dior or Chanel? Mass production companies changed to fit the market. exclusivity of raw materials are now part of their marketing strategy to sell fragrances for a more exclusive public.

I bring my favorite perfumer Jean Claude Ellena to the picture. The man was one of the first perfumers to explain the background of fragrance production. In his book Le Parfum (French edition of 2007) where he defines niche in chapter VII – Le Marketing (in English - The Marketing), sections I – Le marketing de la demande (in English – The marketing of the demand) and II – Le marketing de niche (in English - The niche marketing) to check what this master perfumer has said in the past about this subject:

He mentioned that brands like Annick Goutal, L’Artisan Parfumeur, Comme de Garçons, Diptyque, Frédérick Malle, The Different Company were the precursors of the awareness of the immediacy, the “déjà vus” or stereotypes of mainstream perfumery and its lack of surprises. According to him, these niche perfumers (he gave us this name in the book) could be only discriminated by the system of distribution they have adopted, which was mostly, to sell their fragrances in their own boutiques, with a set of criteiras set by them to understand their commercial approach. In section II he defines niche as a marketing strategy: a non-use of advertising support; the perfumers are placed in front of the perfumes (meaning you know who they are), and most of all: the perfume must speak for itself; it has to have a very strong identification, more olfactive. A great deal of attention is given to the name of the brand. In his opinion, a niche perfume is not only a way of distributing and selling perfume; it is also the way the brand shows its difference. He also mentions the service given to its clientele: the places where these perfumes are found are relatively closed places, where clients receive personal attention. Their satisfaction is crucial. The complicity is crucial - the mouth to mouth is the best advertising of these products. As per the creation itself, perfumers are free to create with an olfactive independence.

So what about English niche brand Creed and its advertising campaign for this last Christmas?

"Fragrance house Creed has announced plans to run its first print media advertising campaign to support its men’s scent Aventus.

The campaign is set to appear in a number of consumer publications including GQ, Esquire, Men’s Health, Big Black Book, Style (Sunday Times), Telegraph Luxury, Vanity Fair and FT: How to Spend It. Advertising will also be supported by ongoing PR to further drive sales in the run up to Christmas.

Chris Hawksley, Managing Director of The Orange Square Company and UK distributor for Creed, said: “We are seeing consumers return to quality brands they trust and we are seeking to capitalise on this throughout the Christmas retail period to create maximum awareness of both the Creed brand and this much- loved classic, while supporting the brand’s continued success.” Aventus launched in 2010 to support Creed’s 250th anniversary. The scent contains top notes of apple, blackcurrant, pineapple and bergamot; heart notes of juniper berries, birch, patchouli and jasmine; and base notes of vanilla, musk, oakmoss and ambergris." (extracted by Cosmetic Business website - article posted in 5 Nov 2014).

A niche brand according to Ellena does not advertise in magazines such as GQ. Well, it seems that things have changed in this segment. And what about the large number of online sellers of niche brands? What is the difference between sites selling niche brands on line and O Boticário lanching its Eudora website?

The final question that I raise for reflexion - as per marketing strategy called "mouth to mouth" does that include paying people to go on line in facebook, blogs, twitter and others to endorse brands being PAID to do so? I don't need to name the faces here, you all know who they are by now. Blogging was once a hobby, a passion...today it is leverage in one's bank account. The bloggers are not the issue here. I don't want to raise this discussion today in this article, but I do want to raise the question about the ethics niche brands have or have not when it starts to "support" the mouth to mouth opinion about how wonderful their perfumes are. Paying certain celeb-wanna-bes of facebook to promote this or that brand is a marketing strategy called ADVERTISING.

When money comes to the scene and profits are increasing brands, bloggers, consumers all change their behavior. Everyone wants a piece of this luxurious niche cake.

SEX, FOOD & PERFUMES - PART I

This article will be divided into 2 parts. In the first part I will explore the food metaphors metaphors for sex. In part II you will find out how the tactile experience of using food in sex turned into an olfactive experience to be whiffed on the skin. I hope you enjoy!


Genesis 3:6:7

ו  וַתֵּרֶא הָאִשָּׁה כִּי טוֹב הָעֵץ לְמַאֲכָל וְכִי תַאֲוָה-הוּא לָעֵינַיִם, וְנֶחְמָד הָעֵץ לְהַשְׂכִּיל, וַתִּקַּח מִפִּרְיוֹ, וַתֹּאכַל; וַתִּתֵּן גַּם-לְאִישָׁהּ עִמָּהּ, וַיֹּאכַל.	6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.
ז  וַתִּפָּקַחְנָה, עֵינֵי שְׁנֵיהֶם, וַיֵּדְעוּ, כִּי עֵירֻמִּם הֵם; וַיִּתְפְּרוּ עֲלֵה תְאֵנָה, וַיַּעֲשׂוּ לָהֶם חֲגֹרֹת.	7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves girdles.

Since the early beginning of humankind we will find many symbolic connections between food and sex. In the book of Genesis in the Old Testament the serpent tricks Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and to offer it to Adam. By eating the forbidden fruit they discovered they were naked (meaning that they realized they had different sexes and they were attracted to each other in a sexual way) and because they disobeyed God's will they are punished by being expelled from the Garden of Eden. 

If the forbidden fruit was a pomegranate, a citron or a fig, we will never know. But we know for a fact that the forbidden fruit was a metaphor for pleasure and sex; and eating was a metaphor for sexual intercourse. The Old testament uses fruits as metaphors to approach this delicate subject as many ancient texts did in the past.

The historically and universally use of fruits as a metaphor for sex and erotica is linked to the intrinsic sexuality of the fruit itself. According to Ronald Veenker from the Western Kentucky University " Fruit is the reproductive part of the plant – its sexual organs. Fruit is… very colorful and shaped so that it is readily differentiated from foliage. It is attractive to the eye, and tempts one to approach and touch it. Fruit exudes an appealing fragrance, especially strong and irresistible when it is very ripe. Fruit makes an ideal metaphor for sex because the two have quite similar sensual attributes. The sex organs are irregular in shape in comparison to other body parts. They increase in size and change color during sexual arousal, making them more attractive. The odors of the vaginal and seminal fluids also serve to attract and arouse. And the juiciness of both fruit and pudenda is obvious".

In ancient and modern Literature we will also find substitutions or expressions related to food when in fact the authors were speaking of sexual desire, passion and women's vaginal fluids. The list is long: "hunger for" using a verb related to food in substitution for wanting or lusting someone sexually; lover's desires to "eat" their beloved or the expression "devouring" with the eyes; men tasting women's sweet "honey"... just to mention a few.

We also have modern sexual connotations for food that are less sophisticated such as saying a woman pops her "cherry" to mean she lost her virginity or men relating to breasts as melons.



Some foods are directly linked to men's fantasy:
Processed meats such as hot dogs, sausages and winners are considered rather sexual for having phallic shapes; cucumbers, bananas, asparagus, zuchinnis, etc... are also clearly identifiable as male sex symbolism and men just love watching a woman put them into the mouth. Watch Gerard Butler coaching Katerine Heigl how to seduce her date by putting slowly a penis shaped food in her mouth in movie The Naked Truth.

Whipped cream.  Creams in general are constantly used in movies and in advertising as sexual associations with masculine sperm... and since we are mentioning whipping cream, I would like to tell you something very curious I recently learned about cake and sex. Turns out that wedding cakes are a symbol of the feminine sex organ and the act of cutting the cake is a metaphor for defloration. The act of cutting the cake by the bride and groom celebrates the act of making love that can and will be consummated only after marriage. Easy now to explain why we all have an urge to eat moistly creamy cakes!

Creative director of BBDO Paris, Valérie Levy- Harrar shows the sensuality of food in a series of videos called Chromatic Porn Food. She excites us without using a single human model. She plays with our fantasies. Showing how gourmand treats are sensually tasty.

In ROUGE we experience the combination of coffee ( a beverage commonly associated by consumers as masculine and virile) with raspberries - the feminine fruit. Raspberry is known to be related to women's fertility. It also symbolizes fragility and kindness. Lustful ingredients, such as chocolate, melt to create sensual creams. Boiling sugar and the intensity of the color red explore passion and desire.

In ROSE, although more sophisticated than ROUGE, we will find more explicit sexual connotation of intercourse when coffee cream is placed in a phallic pastry cone to be carefully inserted inside the pastry. There is penetration in food my friends!
Here the same masculine ingredient - coffee - will "seduce" and engage in "sexual intercourse" with a very delicate and feminine figure - Petit Chou - the pink French pastry. It is a visual feast of liquids and creams dripping, fire burning and pastries "growing and exploding". ROSE clearly illustrates that food preparing can be very sensual and that food ingredients can be very erotic and arousing.

So far we have seen food as a visual substitute for the forbidden pleasure either implied, imagined, or fantasized. But what about playing with food? Having a tactile sexual experience with them? To use taste and touch to seduce? 

Playing with food is universally forbidden for kids. Parents never liked it and even punished us for doing so. But as grown-ups we are allowed to play with food and use it as a tool of sexual excitement. Some people call it sitophilia.

In 1986 Kim Basinger lived a submissive, sadomaso toxic relationship with Mickey Rourke in Nine and A Half Weeks. The steamy scenes had a level of explicitness that is remembered till today. The sex scene in front of the refrigerator was probably reproduced in many other kitchens all over the world.

Mickey seduces Kim with her taste buds. With her eyes closed he inserts in her fleshy sensual mouth all kids of foods that have sexual connotations or shapes, such as dripping cherries, strawberries, jalapenos peppers and Jello. There are also scenes of liquids coming from her mouth such as wine, cough syrup and milk. The milk scene by the way is very erotic because Kim's close up licking it out of her face implies a blow job with coming-in-the-mouth fantasy. And the final touch is the honey. Mickey pours honey into on her tongue saying that he is going to put it right on the spot. He spreads honey on her knees and inner legs and finally after seducing and dominating her with food, they have sex.

The success of the movie is intrinsically related to the fact that AIDS was the great villain of the 80's and at that time people were either scarred of having sex or trying to get used to the fact that they could only have it if using condoms. So in order to spice up the act and make it more pleasurable, food played an important role in seduction. 

In the 90's manufactures launched condoms with taste in order to reinvent condoms and encourage the population to use them while having oral sex.

Comedian Carrie Snow once said that if God was a woman sperm would taste like chocolate. Well, it doesn't and if it did we wouldn't probably be here;-). But if you like chocolate or BACON (YES, BACON!) flavored penises your man can use a flavored condom. As shocking as it may sound to you J&D company invented the bacon flavored rubber.

Soon lubes, massage creams, stimulating oils, sexual enhancers and all sort of flavored balms and gels were successfully launched in the market for extra oral pleasure. The vast array of slippery flavored products are countless. Some of these tantalizing creams are advertised as EDIBLE creams.

But how to explain this sexual relationship that we have with food? Is it biological?

My guess is that it is evolutionary. As all carnivore animals, we are all hunting - mating beings. That said, he who brings the food gets to mate with the female. Food and sex were and still are the main factors of human survival in this planet, therefore the ability to supply food establishes an economic partnership between a male and a female in which men demonstrate how well they are able to provide and take care of themselves and their future offspring.

To be continued soon...

In PART II I will continue to explore the relationship between food and sex and understand how and why gourmet fragrances are so successful. I am also going to bring the unusual scents available in the market today with funny, shocking and "tasty" smells.

Meanwhile I would like to invite you to reflect a bit about the subject!

Perfume Trends - fall & winter 2013 -14 - PART I

NOSTALGIA

"A pleasure or sadness that is cause by remembering something for the past and wishing to experience again." (Merriam-Webster dictionary)

La Vie Parisienne

Nostalgia is daydreaming, fantasying, an escapism of the unsatisfying present. Personal nostalgia is a way of maintaining a constant sense of identity through changes or trauma. It only happens when the dissatisfaction with the current present time is great enough for someone to actually prefer an era or time period in the past. For some people is a journey to the past to identify what is missing in the present and move on; for some people is a way to live in denial. IMO we do find some positivism in nostalgia. I mean, people who tend to go back in time usually just kept good memories of it!

Once Bill Maher said something very interesting about nostalgia of the 50's. He said that if you missed the fifties or thought they were better times you are probably not gay, Jewish, black or a woman...I add open minded, creative etc...etc...

So, I won't pin point here why there is a global dissatisfaction with the world today. You have been reading/watching the news of the last 5 years, so you know it. The younger crowd will seek for the future - better days will come; the older will get nostalgic...easy to understand.

Perfume does evoke memories, no doubt about it. But perfume wearers of today were not young during the 20's, because they are mostly dead already! People born in the 20's are at least 93 yrs old. So the idea - not memories -  that we have of the roaring years is actually from movies, books, songs, fashion etc... We are told that those were times of fun, of prosperity (at least until the end of the decade), of social/artistic/cultural change and dynamism. A trilling time of Jazz, Art Deco and Expressionism.

According to Jonathan Gry (IFRA UK) for these incoming months we are going to see what he calls a retro-olfaction. Fragrances will turn to past to remind us of the past. A olfactory nostalgia. Expect to see relaunch of iconic fragrances, he predicts. Floral bouquets with powerful white flowers such as jasmines, gardenias and tuberose. This trend will also influence masculine perfumes with a trend called Great Gatsby - here we will see woody fougeres and colognes in full gear.

Following this trend you have a list here of some of the new or launched perfumes:

Zelda by Shelley Waddington

Attrape Coeur by Guerlain

Chanel Nº5 by Chanel

Mitsouko by Guerlain

Mito and Kiki by Vero Kern

Jean Patou Heritage Collection (Eau de Patou, Chaldée, Patou pour Homme)

Chevignon Heritage Collection 

M.O.U.S.S.E by Oliver & Co

Black Code in Fragrances & BLACK by PUREDISTANCE - TREND RADAR

In the beginning of this year this blogger has analyzed a bit of our fascination for the color black and how it is expressed in perfumery (click HERE to read the article if you missed it). Today I want to expand and explore this theme a little bit more.

Can we actually smell BLACK? Are we all synesthets? Are Black inspired perfumes really black?

Synesthesia is a disorder in which the signals from the various sensory organs are processed in the wrong cortical areas resulting in the sense information being interpreted as more than one sensation. People with this condition is rare - 1 in 25,000 according to Cytowik, 1989. That means that we are not all syntesthetes! 

That also means that only 1 out of 25,000 people can actually see black when smelling a BLACK inspired fragrance (or any other fragrance) and the rest of us, well... we are not exactly smelling the color black!

BLACK by PUREDISTANCE 

Photo credit: Puredistance

I received this month a sample of the latest fragrance by niche brand Puredistance and in fact, that is what inspired me to write this article. PUREDISTANCE BLACK is going to be officially launched this coming December at MiN NYC (Mindy and Chad's), but some of the lucky ones like me  have already received a preview!

SO, Puredistance BLACK is a concept created by Jan Ewoud Vos (brand owner) and developed by perfumer Antoine Lie (who has developed Wonderwood by Comme des Garçons also reviewed here - a fragrance that do remind me A LOT of Black).

“Deep beauty is best experienced in the dark.
 Envision. Smell. Feel.
 Don’t analyze. Today's trends to know everything
 (and to show everything) mute our magic feelings of intuitive beauty.
Puredistance Black treasures 
the beauty of the unknown.”

BLACK comes with an interesting proposal: the brand will not reveal its composition. That said, nobody will get info of the notes of this fragrance by press. Instead, Jan wants us to FEEL the perfume. If Black is about the beauty of the unknown, Jan wants us to discover this beauty by simply applying the fragrance and enjoy it as whole. He wants to send an emotional message to the wearers - feel the sensuality, embrace the mystery. Don't analyze it; be intuitive.

Illustration by Gabriel Conroy for Puredistance BLACK

In Jan's brief for this fragrance he brought David Bowie as Jan sees him as elegant, creative, mysterious) and Jeremy Irons playing Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune. The idea was to blend the delicate and sometimes fragile tone of Bowie's and the dark and noble tones of Jeremy Irons to construct a darker elegance to BLACK.

What do I FEEL/SMELL when I wear BLACK?

I smell a more luxurious and more elegant vibe of Wonderwood by Comme des Garçons.

Reviewing that fragrance I mostly did what Jan proposes to Black - I let my imagination flow:

"Rooty, burnt, fruity-floral, but in essence extremely woody, Wonderwood EDP is the sexy lumberjack fragrance. As natural and synthetics are the opposite, so is fire and lumberjacks to wood forests! And that is exactly what makes this fragrance interesting! In fact, from the development to dry down nothing new came along. Pretty known and found in many other fragrances, the notes of vetiver and cedar tend to overtake the entire base. You will find patchouli, Oud and other delicious scents in the composition, adding a sensual touch to this perfume, but do not expect extreme luxuriousness.

If you ever had fantasies about getting lost in the woods and finding a sexy sweaty muscular lumberjack out of nowhere...well, probably would never happen in real life! (unless you live in Canada...then maybe....). But once you spray Wonderwood on your skin, you will definitely encounter Mr. Wonderwood, the lumberjack".

In BLACK you will find the extreme luxuriousness that Wonderwook lacked. It is an exposed luxury, but a subtle close to the skin fragrance, with understated sexiness. You won't feel the lumberjack sweat all over you. You won't see muscles. (In fact Jeremy Irons attended "Walk in the Woods" to support the campaign agains selling the harvesting rights of public forests in Ireland - yeap - a man with many facets, including the elegance of fighting for Nature). So I can't evoke Jeremy Irons wearing a lumberjack shirt, cutting wood and sweating close to me, can I?

But what does BLACK evoke in me?

A gentle touch of an elegant man who does want to take me to bed and will succeed doing so in the most subtle way. There is mystery surrounding this man. But once he does come close to you he will reveal his hidden soul. Could be Jeremy Irons, not as Claus von Bülow but as Dr. Steven Flemming in Damage - a member of the Parliament, elegant, well mannered, with a hidden secret of a forbidden passion.

Jeremy Irons & Juliette Binoche in DAMAGE

To evoke is not to see. To evoke is to provoke, to call to mind, to create anew specially by means of imagination. It is to feel, to bring out emotions. BLACK by PUREDISTANCE evokes lustful, hot SEX in me. As simple as that.

You won't see the color black in this fragrance, as you won't see in any fragrance inspired by the color black. Which brings us back to the questions asked in the beginning: 

Can we actually smell black?  The answer is NO. 

Are really black inspired fragrances black? The answer is also NO.

So how exactly one relates to the color black in black inspired fragrances?

Perception is a process by which the brain takes all sensation people experience at any given moment and allows them to be interpreted in some meaningful fashion. Perception implies individuality. Although it implies individuality,  similarities exits as people perceive the world around them (consistency), and sometimes we are lead to involve ourselves in perceptive illusions (I also wrote about this subject in the beginning of this year - read TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE if you haven't read it till now).

An illusion is a perception that does not correspond to reality.

Hermann Grid

A classic example of a visual illusion is the one presented by the Hermann Grid matrix of squares. Look directly to the grid and you will see in the intersections of the white lines gray dots that pop up and fade away after a while. Those gray dots are illusions of visual perception.

What factors influence human perception of things? Besides cultural and upbringing, Perceptual Expectancy is one of them. It means that humans have a tendency to perceive things in a certain way because their previous experiences or expectations influence them. Humans use what is called top down processing, which means that we use preexisting knowledge to organize individual features into an unified whole. That is one form of Perceptual Expectancy.

That said, when a black inspired fragrance is presented in the market it comes with a preexisting concept that is presented to consumers.

Words such as Black, Noir, Nuit, Night or Dark are included in the name of the fragrance  evoking the color black. Black bottles, black packages and the use of the color black in the fragrance's advertising are also perceptual expectancy tools to evoke the perception of the color black. When a brand calls its perfume Black Afgano (Nasomatto), Coco Noir (Chanel), Back to Black (By Killian), Polo Black (Polo), Armani Black Code (Armani) etc..., presenting a perfume in a black flacon, there is already a preexisting knowledge of the association of the color black. The obvious, presented in a very direct way. But there are more understated ways of influencing perception.

Black is also associated to mystery, power, sophistication, elegancy. Let's call it the Black Code. These associations are deeply rooted in our cultural perception of the color black. When the brand presents its fragrance as mysterious, sophisticated and elegant they are influencing you to think of black in a more subtle refined way.

So you cannot see black or feel black in a fragrance. You can only have the illusional perception of it. 

Maybe if you receive a fragrance such as BLACK by PUREDISTANCE  in a small transparent vial with no name marked on the juice and you don't know who created or which perfumer have developed it you might not think of the color black. You may say it is a woody slightly floral sensual fragrance. It might remind you of Wonderwood or any other fragrance alike...you might say it is oriental, classic, elegant; it contains musk or oud or any other note you smell in it... but you won't say it is the olfactive interpretation of the color black. Because the black color does not actually have a smell. But if you are a synesthete you might actually see the black color smelling a perfume because the signal that had to be interpreted as smell could be interpreted as more than one sensation and you might also get a visual.

Truth is that you associated situations, feelings, emotions, memories, desires, fantasies related to the black color and the smell of the perfume altogether. Just like I did: "A gentle touch of an elegant man who does want to take me to bed and will succeed doing so in the most subtle way"/lustful hot sex...

Perfumes create illusions and perfumers combine ingredients to create olfactory representations. It is up to the marketing department to create the perceptual expectancy. To understand how human perceive the world around them. To translate an olfactive experience into a Black Code.